Private Apps on Google Play?

Pete Prestipino

Posted on 11.29.2017

Businesses that use a managed version of Google Play will now be able to distribute enterprise apps privately.

The managed version of Google Play will enable administrators to "white-list" specific applications for their team to use, including any of an enterprise's own private/proprietary apps. As employees regularly develop apps to address specific needs related to their job functions, those apps will need to be managed and the managed version of Google Play can now do exactly that.

Administrators can essentially curate private apps alongside public apps on Google Play through their Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) console. These enterprise apps will then be available to their organization through the Play Store app directly meaning there is no need for a separate enterprise app store (which could save development time and is a more familiar experience for end users). Users will be able to browse and install authorized apps and those apps can also be pushed directly to team members’ devices automatically.

The new Custom App Publishing API also offers several additional workflow advantages for those enterprises interested in publishing private apps. The API eliminates the need for enterprise IT administrators to access the Google Play Console every time they publish an app. Apps can be published to their managed Google Play directly from the EMM console or Integrated Development Environment (IDE).